"US oil production peaked at 11 million barrels per day in 1970. In 1998, the nation produced 8 million barrels of oil per day, while it consumed 19 million barrels per day and Imported 10 million barrels per day."

"US petroleum consumption declined for 2 years to a level of 16 million barrels per day by 1975 …. By 1983, the United States was consuming a low of 15.2 million barrels per day …."

2.54 × 106 m3(per day, 1975)2.42 × 106 m3(per day, 1983)

Fifty years ago, the United States was self-sufficient in its
supply of petroleum. Today, it imports more than half of its petroleum
and consumes 25 percent of the world supply. Petroleum dominates
the transportation sector of the energy consuming economy. This
domination rose from 77 percent in 1949 to 97 percent in 1998.
Our increasing dependence on petroleum can already be detected
in 1972, when the daily consumption was approximately 2.6 × 106
cubic meters (16.4 million barrels) per day. By 1997, this number
rose to 3.0 × 106 m3 (18.6
million barrels) per day. Due to increasing growth of industry
(e.g. newly invented appliances, car production) over the past
twenty-five years, the average annual growth rate of United States
total petroleum consumption was 0.5 percent.

During this time, the nation's consumption experienced lows
and peaks, accordingly with the rises and falls of oil prices
by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The
price increase in 1973 caused a consumption decline to 16 million
barrels per day until 1975. After this fall, consumption steadily
rose until 1979, when the beginning of the Iranian revolution
caused the oil prices to once again rise. As the US Total Petroleum
Consumption Graph demonstrates, this decline did not stop until
1983, at which point it had reached a low of 2.4 × 106 m3
(15.2 million barrels) per day.

For the next 13 years the nation has experienced an overall
steady increase of petroleum consumption reaching 3.00 × 106 m3
per day in 1996. The 1997 increase of oil production by the OPEC
nations was not met by popular demand. By 1998, these prices plummeted
and the United States consumed 3.02 × 106 m3
of petroleum per day. Oil prices skyrocketed 1999-2000 causing
a decline in consumption which remains approximately at the volume
3.00 × 106 m3.